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Professional and Technical Writing/Basics

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The Basics of Technical Communication

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There are three important elements when writing professional and technical documents:


Developing an Effective Style

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It is important to consider the aspect of writing that uses a voice and creates a style in your writing. Also, it is necessary to construct sentences in a clear and concise manner. This section will discuss the six guidelines of how to create one's own voice and how to put together sentences in a well-ordered and reader-centered manner. Furthermore, this section will address seven ways how to best select words for your text.

How to Develop Your Own Voice

Revising and Editing Documents

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This portion of basic technical communication will highlight seven main areas of interest. The first will talk about why it is vital for your success to revise and edit your writing. Next, it will explain the difference between revision and editing. This section will then posit seven questions to consider when it comes to revising and editing documents. Following this will include three key actions of what revising entails for the writer. You will then read how to check your draft using your draft checklist, which is also included in this portion, and then finish with a part that talks about how to reference using both the MLA and APA formatting.

How to Revise and Edit Your Documents

Documenting Your Sources

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Finally, it is always pertinent to appropriately document your sources. This is 100% necessary to do every time you take something, like a quote or an idea that is not your own and place it in your writing. If you do not give credit to the actual author or creator, then you can be accused of plagiarism. You can read other reasons of the importance of doing this, how to choose to proper documentation, where to place citations in your text, as well as the basic guidelines for citing resources, using the MLA and APA styles as examples.

How to Document Your Sources